HOLLAND – After scoring 25 runs in a doubleheader sweep over Holland on Tuesday, the Reeths-Puffer baseball team’s bats went cold against the Dutch on Thursday in the finale of a three-game O-K Green conference series.
The Rockets managed just four hits as Holland claimed a 4-2 win, avoiding the series sweep. Freshman Ethan Byrd was great on the mound for the Dutch, striking out 10 over six innings of two-hit ball.
“We ran into a good pitcher, let’s give credit where credit is due,” said R-P head coach Butch Attig., whose team is now 5-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play. “He carved us up. Holland is a good baseball team. Their approach at the plate and what they do is really solid. What we can’t do is take Tuesday and have two good games, then come in here and expect that it’s going to be the same.”
Brayden Mitchelson took the loss for Reeths-Puffer despite a solid showing on the mound. After allowing some early runs, Mitchelson settled in, pitched around some hits and defensive errors and tossed a complete game.
R-P pitcher Brayden Mitchelson. Photo/Mitchell Boatman
“I love his mentality - he’s very coachable,” Attig said about Mitchelson. “He had basically one bad inning when he was trying to find his arm slot and get that lower half in there. Once he did that, he always pounds the zone.
“We’re usually a very good defensive baseball team, but we made some miscues behind him. But what I love about Brayden is he just gets the ball and says, ‘I’m going to go do my job, I’m going to throw another ground ball.’”
Mitchelson’s final line was six innings, four runs — three of them earned — eight hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
Attig said his team will have to focus on not making outs on the basepaths, and approach every game of a series the same way moving forward. 
Cade Paugh slides in to score Reeths-Puffer's second run. Photo/Mitchell Boatman
“The goal was not to have another conference loss, but we do now,” he said. “So either we can learn from that, we can be upset about it, or we can move on and really focus on what’s next for us and understand that we have a three-game series with teams — not two.”
Reeths-Puffer scored first, scratching across a run without getting a hit in the first inning. Cade Paugh walked to start the game, stole second and third base, then scored on a wild pitch.
Holland took the lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. The Dutch had four hits in the frame — including an RBI double from Byrd to tie the game.
Byrd added an RBI single in the third, scoring Abel Walkotten, to make it 3-1. The Dutch added their final run in the fourth on a fielders’ choice RBI from Andres Tapia, scoring Robbie Wiersma.
Jaxson Whitaker fouls a ball off in Thursday's game against Holland. Photo/Mitchell Boatman
Reeths-Puffer threatened in the fifth, putting runners on first and third with one out, but a double play ended the rally.
The Rockets scored their second run in the sixth with a leadoff double from Paugh, a single from Holden Earnest and a sacrifice fly from Jaxson Whitaker.
Paugh led the Rocket offense with a double, a walk, two steals and two runs. Lucas Johnson added a pair of singles and a stolen base, while Earnest had a single and Whitaker had an RBI.
In addition to his work on the mound, Byrd had a single, a double, two steals, two RBI and a run for Holland. Walkotten had a pair of hits, a walk and scored twice. 